Billboard 200: 12/25/10: Susan Boyle #1- 243K

www.billboard.com/#/news/boyle-s-gift-keeps-giving-on-billboard-200-1004134671.story?tag=hpfeed

Boyle's 'Gift' Keeps Giving On Billboard 200, 'Tron' Hits Top 10

by Keith Caulfield, L.A. | December 15, 2010 11:16 EST

Susan Boyle's "The Gift" racks up its fourth non-consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, selling another 243,000 (down 10%) according to Nielsen Soundscan. In its five weeks of release, the set has moved 1.43 million.

Taylor Swift's "Speak Now" holds at No. 2 (201,000; up 11%) while the "Glee" Christmas album moves up one spot to No. 3 (193,000; up 49%). The "Glee" kids are also at No. 8, where "Glee, the Music: Season Two: Volume 4" album falls three rungs with 74,000 (down 42%).

The chart's highest debut comes from rapper T.I.'s "No Mercy," which starts at No. 4 with 159,000. It's his first new studio album to miss the No. 1 slot since 2004, when "Urban Legend" debuted and peaked at No. 10. His last album, 2008's "Paper Trail," was his third No. 1 album in a row, bowing atop the tally with a whopping 568,000. It followed his previous penthouse-dwellers, "T.I. Vs T.I.P." (2007) and "King" (2006).

The second-largest new entry comes from Daft Punk and the duo's score to the new Disney film "TRON: Legacy." The Walt Disney Records album enters at No. 10 with 71,000, marking the highest chart position and sales week for the dance music act. Daft Punk's previous best week came when 2001's "Discovery' started with 34,000 at No. 44. "TRON: Legacy" is also the first score album to reach the top 10 since May 21, 2005, when "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" debuted and peaked at No. 6 (96,000).

With "Tron" sharing space in the top 10 with two "Glee" albums this week, it marks the second time this year we've had three soundtracks concurrently in the top 10. It last happened on June 26, when "Glee: the Music, Journey to Regionals" (EP) debuted at No. 1 (154,000), the "Twilight Saga: Eclipse" set started at No. 2 (146,000) and "Glee: the Music, Volume 3: Showstoppers" fell 3-7 (41,000).

As for the rest of the non-debuting top 10: Jackie Evancho's "O Holy Night" slips two spots to No. 5 (149,000; up 3%), Nicki Minaj's "Pink Friday" moves up two spots, despite a sales decline (82,000; down 21%), Josh Groban's "Illuminations" steps two to No. 7 (75,000; down 3%). Finally, Rihanna's "Loud" scampers up one slot to No. 9 (71,000; down 8%).

On the Digital Songs chart this week, Katy Perry's "Firework" continues to burn at No. 1, selling another 201,000 downloads (down 5%) while Bruno Mars' "Grenade" climbs one rung to No. 2 with 185,000 (up 7%). Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow" vaults 14-7 with 110,000 (up 29%) and T.I. featuring Eminem's "That's All She Wrote" bows at No. 8 with 109,000.

Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Dec. 12) totaled 10.21 million units, up 11% compared to the sum last week (9.22 million) and down 15% compared to the comparable sales week of 2009 (12.00 million). Year to date album sales stand at 291.45 million, down 13% compared to the same total at this point last year (333.85 million).

Digital track sales this past week totaled 20.47 million downloads, down 3% compared to last week (21.10 million) and up 7% stacked next to the comparable week of 2009 (19.14 million). Year to date track sales are at 1.064 billion, up 1% compared to the same total at this point last year (1.057 billion).

SuBo's album may fall short of Andrea Bocelli's total last year, but, nonetheless, still has sold very well.

Such disappointing sales when compared to their last album...

new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/70736/week-ending-dec-12-2010-whos-naughtynice/

Week Ending Dec. 12, 2010: Who's Naughty & Nice
Posted by Paul Grein in Chart Watch

As Christmas draws closer, it's becoming clear who's been naughty and nice this year. If the charts are any indication, Susan Boyle and Taylor Swift have been very nice. Boyle's The Gift is #1 for the fourth time in five weeks. Swift's former chart-topper Speak Now is #2 for the second week. It has been in the top 10 for seven straight weeks.

But it seems that T.I., Kanye West and the Black Eyed Peas have been a little naughty. T.I.'s No Mercy debuts at #4 with first-week sales of 159,000. The rapper's last three albums all debuted at #1 with first-week sales in the 450K to 575K range. West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy drops from #7 to #14 in its third week. (West's last album, 808s & Heartbreak, dropped out of the top 10 in its fourth week but later returned to the top 10 for an additional nine weeks.) The Peas' The Beginning drops from #6 to #16 in just its second week. The Peas' last album, The E.N.D., spent its first 12 weeks in the top 10.

All three of these albums could stabilize or even turn around based on hit singles and other factors (as West's last album did). This is the most competitive sales season of year. And the Christmas albums that are dominating the chart will fall off sharply in just a few weeks, freeing up many spots near the top of the chart. Still, I'm pretty sure that nobody is happy with these initial numbers (least of all the artists involved).

T.I. is currently serving an 11-month jail sentence, which makes promotion problematic. But incarceration isn't the kiss of death you might expect it to be. Lil Wayne's I Am Not A Human Being rose to #1 despite the rapper's stint in Riker's Island. A bigger problem for No Mercy is that the album has yet to generate a blockbuster single. "That's All She Wrote," featuring Eminem, debuts at #8 on this week's Hot Digital Songs chart. That's good, but it doesn't come close to T.I.'s showing last time out. The week that Paper Trail debuted, he had the top two songs on the Hot 100. "Live Your Life" (featuring Rihanna) vaulted from #80 to #1 that week. It pushed T.I.'s previous hit, "Whatever You Like," down to #2.

Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album jumps from #4 to #3. This album has sold 592K copies in four weeks, which makes it the year’s best-selling soundtrack. The album sold 52K digital copies this week, which puts it at #1 on the Digital Albums chart.

Daft Punk's Tron: Legacy soundtrack debuts at #10. It's the week's highest-charting soundtrack to a theatrically-released movie, displacing Burlesque. This is the highest-charting album ever by the electronica-dance duo, which first charted in 1997. The duo's highest-charting album before this was 2001's Discovery, which reached #44. This is the third time this year that an established pop act has pushed a soundtrack into the top 20. AC/DC's Iron Man 2 reached #4 in April. Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross' The Social Network reached #20 in October. Wendy Carlos composed the score for the first Tron movie in 1982. The soundtrack reached #135.

Katy Perry's "Firework" tops Hot Digital Songs for the third straight week. It sold 201,000 copies this week, bringing its nine-week total to 1,232,000. Perry has headed the chart for 10 weeks in 2010, more than any other artist. Rihanna is second with nine weeks. Eminem is third with eight...Bruno Mars has two songs in the top 10 on Hot Digital Songs for the third straight week. "Grenade" jumps rom #3 to #2 (185K). "Just The Way You Are" dips from #9 to #10 (91K).

Here's the rest of the top 10: The Black Eyed Peas' "The Time (Dirty Bit)" dips from #2 to #3 (150K). Rihanna featuring Drake's "What's My Name?" jumps from #5 to #4 (135K). P!nk's "Raise Your Glass" dips from #4 to #5 (129K). Ke$ha's "We R Who We R" holds at #6 for the second week (125K). Wiz Khalifa's "Black And Yellow" jumps from #14 to #7 (110K). T.I. featuring Eminem's "That's All She Wrote" debuts at #8 (109K). Trey Songz featuring Nicki Minaj's "Bottoms Up" jumps from #10 to #9 (96K).

"Coming Home" by Diddy-Dirty Money featuring Skylar Grey jumps from #44 to #17. The excellent single references three classic songs, "The Tears Of A Clown" (recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles in 1967), "A House Is Not A Home" (recorded separately by Brook Benton and Dionne Warwick in 1964) and "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" (recorded by McFadden and Whitehead in1979).

Pop Quiz: Only one of those three songs hit #1 on the Hot 100. Name it.

"Love The Way You Lie" by Eminem featuring Rihanna tops the 4 million mark in sales this week. It's Eminem's first song to reach this level, though "Lose Yourself" would surely have made it if the digital era had been in full flower in September 2002 when the song was released. (Billboard introduced its Digital Tracks chart nine months later.) "Love The Way You Lie" is Rihanna's second 4-million seller. Only Lady Gaga has had more than two 4-million sellers (she has amassed three).

Shameless Plugs: Eminem is about to make history. The rap star is almost certain to become the first artist to have the best-selling album of the year twice since Nielsen/SoundScan began tracking sales for Billboard in 1991. With just three chart weeks to go in 2010, the rapper's Recovery has a solid lead as the year's best-selling album. The Eminem Show was the best-selling album of 2002.

The race for the year's #1 song is coming right down to the wire. Train's "Hey Soul Sister" regains the lead this week from "California Gurls" by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg, but Train's current margin (2,000) is far too small for comfort. Train's best hope is that a summer song like "California Gurls" will have limited appeal in the last three weeks of December.

You can read more this and much more in my annual year-end chart recap, which we're breaking into two parts. The first part, focusing on the year's top 20 songs, went up this morning. (Here's a link.) The second part, focusing on the year's top 10 albums, and six other albums that achieved noteworthy distinctions, will go up tomorrow.

Note: Since there are still three chart weeks left in 2010, I'll update every single number in both of these pieces (gulp) after the final charts come in on Jan. 5. Check back that day and see the final, official tallies.

Quiz Answer: "The Tears Of A Clown" is the only one of these three songs to hit #1. But it didn't hit #1 until December 1970, more than three years after it first appeared on Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' album Make It Happen.

Shameless Plug II: You may recall that I posted a blog a couple of weeks ago listing the top 30 Christmas songs of the digital era. I just updated the whole list, so all the tallies are current through this week. (Do you get the idea that I really like Christmas music?) If you missed it, or want to see if the Beach Boys or John & Yoko cracked the list, here's a link.

Here's the lowdown on this week's top 10 albums.

1. Susan Boyle, The Gift, 243,000. The album logs its fourth week at #1. This is its fifth week in the top five. The album is up to #6 on the year-to-date chart.

2. Taylor Swift, Speak Now, 201,000. The former #1 album holds at #2 for the second week. This is its seventh week in the top 10. It's #1 on the country chart for the sixth week. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "Back To December" jumps from #52 to #48. "Mine" drops from #81 to #94.

3. Various Artists, Glee: The Music: The Christmas Album, 193,000. The album jumps from #4 to #3. This is its fourth week in the top 10. This is the #1 soundtrack for the third straight week. Five songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Baby, It's Cold Outside," which vaults from #130 to #27.

4. T.I., No Mercy, 159,000. This new entry is the rapper's sixth full-length album in a row to reach the top 10. But it breaks a string of three #1 albums in a row. Five songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "That's All She Wrote" (featuring Eminem), which debuts at #8.

5. Jackie Evancho, O Holy Night, 149,000. The EP/DVD combo dips from #3 to #4. This is its fourth week in the top five.

6. Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday, 82,000. The album rebounds from #8 to #7. This is its third week in the top 10. Three songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Right Thru Me," which drops from #42 to #49.

7. Josh Groban, Illuminations, 74,000. The album jumps from #9 to #8 in its fourth week. This is its third week in the top 10. Groban's 2007 album Noel drops from #18 to #27.

8. Various Artists, Glee: The Music, Volume 4, 72,000. The album drops from #5 to #10. This is its second week in the top 10. Six songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Forget You" (featuring Gwyneth Paltrow), which drops from #34 to #65.

9. Rihanna, Loud, 74,000. The album jumps from #10 to #7. This is its fourth week in the top 10. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "What's My Name?" (featuring Drake) jumps from #5 to #4. "Only Girl (In The World) jumps from #16 to #13.

10. Daft Punk/Soundtrack, Tron: Legacy, 71,000. This new entry is the dance duo's first top 10 album. Daft Punk's highest-charting album before this was 2001's Discovery, which reached #44. This is the week's #1 soundtrack to a theatrically- released movie.

Two albums drop out of the top 10 this week. The Black Eyed Peas' The Beginning drops from #6 to #16, Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy drops from #7 to #14.

Andrea Bocelli's 2009 album My Christmas jumps from #14 to #11. It's #1 on the Catalog Albums chart for the second week... Vince Guaraldi Trio's A Charlie Brown Christmas vaults from #101 to #30. This is the highest position the classic album has ever reached. Let me explain: Christmas albums were kept off the Billboard chart when Charlie Brown was first released in 1965. Even when they were finally admitted, catalog albums were banned. Finally, last year, when all albums were welcome onto the chart, it peaked at #79.

Charlie Wilson's Just Charlie bows at #19. Wilson first cracked the top 20 in February 1981 (when he was with the Gap Band) with The Gap Band III. This gives the R&B vet a nearly 30-year span of top 20 albums.

Four acts that went top 10 with their last albums are off to a slower-than-expected start with their new releases. Hinder's The All American Nightmare bows at #37. The band's two previous albums, Extreme Behavior (#6 in 2005) and Take It To The Limit (#4 in 2008), both made the top 10... Duffy's Endlessly bows at #72. Duffy's last album, Rockferry, hit #4 in 2008...Natasha Bedingfield's Strip Me bows at #103. The singer's last album, Pocketful Of Sunshine, hit #3 in 2008... Flyleaf's Remember To Live bows at #111. The Christian hard-rock band's last album, Memento Mori, hit #8 in November 2009.

The Black Eyed Peas' "The Time (Dirty Bit)" jumps to #1 in the U.K. It's the group's fifth #1 there. Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes' "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life," on which the Peas' hit is based, never reached #1 in the U.K. It did, however, make the top 10 there twice, in 1987 and 1990. Willow's "Whip My Hair" enters the U.K. chart at #2. Will Smith has had nine top five hits in the U.K., including the chart-topping "Men In Black."

Take That's Progress this week tops Lady Gaga's The Fame as the best-selling album of 2010 in the U.K., according to the Official Charts Co. The album tops the 1 million mark this week, which is outstanding for a country of 62 million people.

The soundtrack to The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader was #1 at the box-office over the weekend. But the soundtrack sold fewer than 1,000 copies, too few to make The Billboard 200. The soundtracks to the first two Narnia movies peaked at #43 and #26, respectively.

Song Scorecard: "Right Above It" by Lil Wayne featuring Drake tops the 1 million mark in paid downloads this week.

Heads Up: Michael Jackson's Michael is expected to debut at #1 next week. Also due: R. Kelly's Love Letter, Diddy's Last Train To Paris, Ciara's Basic Instinct, Tank's Now Or Never and Crystal Bowersox's Farmer's Daughter.

SuBu should have massive sales this week and next week. At least 300k.

:o :o

Mariah only had the years best-selling album for one of the Soundscan years.

No she had it for two.

True.
But they do not count TEOM as #1 since billboard does not use calendar year.

So funny that it's Mariah and Eminem.

EDIT: I've realized it's calendar year they are talking about.
So wasn't Mariah Carey (album) #1 on calendar year or billboard year?

Not to but in, but if you had EVIDENCE, you might be a little more convincing.

For Billboard, Mariah only had it once with "The Emancipation of Mimi" in 2005 since Soundscan began in 1991.

For the regular chart year (not Billboard) - not sure...

With 3 weeks of sales left, Taylor will probably not catch up to Eminem.

2 SWIFT*TAYLOR SPEAK NOW 200,927 10 182,018 2,348,052

24 EMINEM RECOVERY 49,319 13 43,563 3,145,760

Hopefully Swift can hit the 3 million mark (I'm guessing she will pretty easily). So we will at least have 3 albums selling 3 million+ this year. Lowest number ever, though?

These have sold Gold or are very close:

3 GLEE CAST MUSIC: XMAS 193,421 49 129,436 592,154
5 EVANCHO*JACKIE O HOLY NIGHT 148,646 3 144,572 659,861
6 MINAJ*NICKI PINK FRIDAY 81,870 -21 103,149 560,992
9 RIHANNA LOUD 70,987 -8 77,040 495,641
19 ALDEAN*JASON MY KINDA PARTY 56,225 18 47,750 493,950

Exactly.